This invention relates to a running model which is used in a race game machine, and has an imitation form of an animal and is movable in an imitation manner of the animal.
A running model of this type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-152698. In this publication, the running model is a model imitating a racing horse with a model horse racer riding thereon. A specified number of running model horses are used in a horse race game machine in which the ranking of the horses is predicted, and the prizes are bet. At a base of the running model are mounted drive wheels for driving the running model. The drive wheels are placed on a support plate for the game machine. As the running model runs on the support plate, the drive wheels roll on the support plate of the game machine. The rolling force of the drive wheels causes a crank member of the running model to reciprocatingly move. The reciprocating movement of the crank member is transmitted to front and rear legs of the model horse to thereby move the legs pivotally, and to thereby move the hip of the model horse racer upward and downward, In this way, an imitated motion of a racing horse and horse racer riding on the racing horse is produced.
Besides horse races, there are bicycle races. There has the demand of a race game machine resembling a bicycle race game. However, the above-mentioned running model has been worked to for horse race game machines. For bicycle race game machines, several points are required to be improved.
In the case of horse model, it is required to include a posture that the front or rear legs of the model horse are kept in a floated state in the air to represent a realistic motion. Accordingly, as shown in the Japanese publication, the front or rear legs of the model horse are supported on the support plate in a floated state, i.e., are not brought into contact with the support plate.
However, in the case of bicycle model, if the front or rear wheel of the model bicycle is supported on the support plate in a floated state similar to the case of horse model, the motion of such model bicycle is unnatural, which makes it difficult to imitate the motion of a bicycle in an actual bicycle race. This is because front and rear wheels of an actual bicycle are always kept in contact with a race track. On the other hand, in the case where both the front and rear wheels of the model bicycle are supported by the support plate in a contact state, the two wheels make the motion of the model bicycle unstable, and thus, it is necessary to additionally provide at least one (preferably two or more) wheel to stably support the model bicycle to the support plate in a contact state. However, the more the number of wheels in contact with the support plate, the larger an area with which the wheels are brought into contact, which increases the frictional resistance between the wheels and the support plate and consequently decelerate the moving speed of the running model.
In the case that running models are moved in their specified running courses by magnetic attraction, particularly, the increase in the frictional resistance between the support plate and the running model decreases the drawing force of magnetic attraction. Accordingly, it is preferable to reduce the frictional resistance as much as possible.
Further, in the case of bicycle race, a bicycle racer, especially the upper body, acts in sideways directions more distinctively than in vertical directions. However, the above-mentioned prior art cannot give such sideways actions to the model racer.